chocolate cake every day, all three
meals.” Bingo! His listeners’ faces registered an immediate understanding
after only a dozen or so words.

This kind of “aha” moment happens
more often with stories. For example,
in a training book for construction
workers, a litany of safety rules is
important information to help avoid
injuries. Add a story of an injured
worker, though, and you’ll grab attention and tap into readers’ emotions
as they form a mental picture of
the injured worker. Likewise, a list
of policies outlining how to deliver
excellent customer service may reach
some readers, but contrasting customer-service failure and success stories can
conjure images that breathe life into
the words.

Six elements to a good story

OK, you’re convinced. Stories can
make your communications more
effective. So how do you tell a good
story? Stories (except for the shortest
ones) share six key elements:

2. Scene setter: Open the door to
your topic. This step could have an
“it all started when” quality, or plunk
the reader into the scene—that day
the airline personnel handled more
than 100 weather-delayed flights and
revealed weaknesses in the airline’s
emergency procedures. Use the senses
to bring the scene to life—let your
readers hear the sounds of distressed
travelers and see the frenzy of an overcrowded airport.

3. Conflict and complications: Dig
deeper into the sticky, emotional issues
your readers can relate to. Using the
airline example, explore the weaknesses
in the emergency procedures and how
they caused problems for management
and passengers. In a short, personal
story, you can spotlight an employee

show, don’t tell
When the hero faces
danger, rather than
writing “She’s scared,”
the novelist writes about
the character’s sweating
forehead and hands. Why
not bring the same verve to
nonfiction writing? Set your
readers in a situation; share
a story about someone
who benefited from your
product or service.

finding great stories

In the second of a four-part video series, Ira Glass of the radio program

This American Life discusses the need to set aside as much time for finding a
decent story as for producing and telling it.